Abstract
British Party Politics and Ideology After New Labour is an attempt to analyse the major ideological fault lines in British Politics over the past decade-and-a-half. The key aim of the book is to both ‘analyse ideological disputes’ as well as to ‘provoke discussion and debate’ (p. 1). It does this through a set of substantive chapters partnered with ‘response’ sections by renowned academic experts and political heavyweights. The key mission of the book is to suggest that a post-ideological age is ‘not the case’, and hence that ideology matters (p. 1).
The scope of the volume is vast and expansive. The first section evaluates the Blair legacy and interrogates the extent to which one of Labour’s most electoral popular leaders was a social democrat. The second section follows by providing an in-depth analysis of the impact of the ‘Third Way’, liberalism, and Gordon Brown’s premiership on the United Kingdom’s ideological landscape. The most impressive element of this section, however, is the contribution by Anthony Giddens. This gives an insightful look at the extent to which his ideas were successfully interpreted and then adopted by New Labour.
The final three sections of the book look beyond the Labour Party and towards the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Part III is particularly instructive, sketching out the extent to which David Cameron could be considered an ‘heir to Blair’, an ‘opportunist’ or a ‘one nation conservative’. Moreover, Part IV on the Liberal Democrats points to the key difficulties and tensions experienced by the party in recent years on constitutional reform and between ‘yellow’ and ‘orange book’ liberals. The final section of the book looks at ‘cross-cutting issues’ (p. 7), examining the main parties’ ideas regarding public service reform and social justice prior to the Coalition.
In sum, British Party Politics and Ideology After New Labour is an accomplished ideological survey that ultimately lives up to its ‘ideology matters’ mission statement. Some chapters delve into slightly tangential areas, but this is remedied by the innovative ‘response’ sections that help to add unparalleled life and vibrancy to the book’s pages. Its main audience appears to be students and scholars of British party politics and political ideology. However, some chapters could lend themselves to contemporary political historians, anthropologists and public service reform experts. First published in 2010, British Party Politics and Ideology After New Labour encapsulates the best of scholarship on pre-Coalition British party politics and ideology. One therefore hopes that an updated, post-Coalition version is on the horizon.